Today's special guest is authorScott Nagele

You are in for a treat today! I am so excited to introduce you to Scott Nagele, author of Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane. Scott has also published two other books to date, Wasted Moons and A Smile Through A Tear. We are going to focus on Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane today. I must say that I felt so good after reading this book, and realized it was because it had been years since I had laughed as hard as I had while reading this wonderful book.

I'm still basking in the afterglow of the best laugh I've had in years. I'm just going to say it. Temp: Life In The Stagnant Lane by Scott Nagele was the funniest thing I've ever read. I started laughing on the first page and didn't stop until I finished the book. No, wait, that's wrong because I'm still laughing about it. Several times I had to put my Kindle down and reach for a tissue because I was laughing so hard, tears were rolling down my face and I couldn't see to read. If you are looking for laugh out loud, bust your gut funny, this is the book for you.

Another thing I really loved about this book was the way it was written. I felt as though I was sitting in my living room with a good friend and he was telling me funny things that had happened to him. I encourage everyone to download a sample of this book. I promise you that you will not be disappointed. Once you've started reading it, you won't be able to hit that "Buy now with 1-Click" button fast enough.

A little about Scott Nagele:

Scott Nagele

A long beginning. I started writing my first novel when I was 12. I finished writing my first novel when I was 32. It was a different novel, slightly better than the one began 20 years prior, but still the work of a writer with a long way to go.

The current mile marker. To date, I have written six novels, a YA book, and many short stories. Some are published; some are not. I have had a handful of pieces accepted by literary journals; some of them have actually made it to publication. But as far as big agents, or big publishers, taking an interest in my work, well, I'm in the same boat as nearly everyone else on this ocean. That is the boat that drifts from rejection to brush-off and back again. Rather than becoming discouraged, I've spent my energies in the past several years investigating avenues for self-publishing (including ebooks). There is no golden ticket here, but there is hope, which is the single morsel a writer needs to carry on.

Scott's Books:

Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane

Scott's Inspiration Behind the Writing of Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane

I’m always impressed when I hear a writer talk about the inspiration for their book. Often, their stories are so touching that they make my spine tingle or bring a tear to my eye. That is to say that they would bring a tear to my eye if I weren’t such a manly man who doesn’t allow such things to happen.

Whenever I hear these great stories of inspiration, I think about what it was that inspired me to write Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane. I have to think about it for a long time on account of no soul-stirring story rushing to mind right away. It’s kind of like asking an eight-year-old what inspired him to stuff a firecracker into a hornets’ nest. It’s complicated. The eight-year-old might not be able to put the web of sound reasoning behind his actions into words, but in his heart, he knows there was a good reason why it had to be done.

Writing Temp was just something that had to be done. Nobody else was doing it, so I stepped up and took the hornets by the horns. That’s just the sort of stand-up guy I am.

Like Gary Gray, the protagonist of Temp, I have worked as a temporary employee, as a retail manager, and as a non-essential employee in the halls of academia. As anyone who has this combination of life experiences will tell you, if you can get them to stop crying long enough to say anything, you can’t take the work personally if you want to hold on to any sense of self-respect.

A lot of crap rolls downhill at temporary workers, people on the front lines of retail sales, and folks at the lower end of higher learning. This crap can easily make you want to cry; if you want to survive, you learn to laugh. So I guess, my inspiration for Temp is all the people I have known who were put in a position to cry, but laughed instead: the survivors.

Gary Gray and his girlfriend, Gwen, are emblematic of the survivors I have known. They choose to laugh when it might be easier to just break down and cry. You can beat them down, but you can’t make them quit, and sometimes you can’t even convince them that they are actually fired. Such people deserve to have their stories told.

There are a handful of nasty characters in Temp. These are the ones rolling the crap down the hill. People sometimes suspect that they know who my inspiration for one or more of these characters is, but in truth, they are composites of different people I have run into, and afoul of, in my various lives.

I like to think that the nasty folks in Temp are kind of fun and interesting. None of the crap rollers I have known in real life are either of these. This alone should be proof that my characters are not based on any individual from real life. The real, live crap rollers might be fun to impersonate for a couple minutes at the company Christmas party, but after two minutes of pretending to be them, you just want to take a scalding hot shower and go cry yourself to sleep somewhere. Inspirationally speaking, they are just the many corpses from which one builds his fictional Frankenstein, in hopes that Frankenstein will be much more interesting than the sum of his parts.

So there, in a cracked nutshell, is the story of the inspiration behind the writing of Temp. To sum up, well, see, I kind of had this firecracker, and there was this hornets’ nest, and, well, it’s complicated.

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone. As many of you have commented, Sandy deserves a ton of thanks for this great spotlight blog. I can't believe she just started it a few weeks ago. She's so good at it that you'd think she's been doing it her whold life.

@Mark - If you are looking for an Endorphin rush, this is the book for you. I felt so good after I read it!

@Doc @Kellie @mama @Arthur - Thanks for the kind words about the blog. Once you start a sample of Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane, you really won't be able to put it down.

@Scott - You are probably the most humble person I know. You deserve many accolades. It's because of writers like you, that I do this blog. I really expect to see you on a best selling list soon! Thank you for writing this book.

Sandy

Reply

LaRay

8/26/2011 12:16:38 am

I loved the book. Temp, had me in stitches the entire time. Even several months after completing the book, I still find myself, quoting my favorite lines.

There is definitely more laughter than tears in this one (unless you're a laugh-crier), but I've got others with more tears than laughs. In fact, I'm working on one now, and hope to publish it in 2012, if it meets my standards by then.

I think a lot of the decisions we make are like stuffing a firecracker into a hornets nest: we're not sure why we think it's a good idea, but we are still compelled to do it. I've blown up many figurative hornets nests myself, and so far I have survived the stings.

Interesting that I received your blog post today, Sandy, because my husband and I were talking to an employee at Panera Bread today (our favorite haunt), and he was sharing some very funny stories about the "crap rollers" as Scott calls them and those who are getting picked off by the "crap."

Congrats, Scott, on finding such a humor-filled topic to write about, and you're right - you have to be willing to laugh if you want to survive in the Temp world or any other.

Dannye,
Yes, you do have to be able to laugh; first and foremost you have to be able to laugh at yourself.

BTW: I love Panera's asiago bagels.

Thanks for stopping by.

Scott

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Janet

8/26/2011 05:16:17 am

I've had the pleasure, and it was truly a pleasure, to read "Temp," and Sandy is right. It's a laugh-out-loud experience. I could relate to so much of what happened thanks to the universality of Scott's writing. I highly recommend it as a great end-of-summer read!

And what a wonderful blog. Thanks, LaRay, for introducing it to me. Looking forward to learning about more authors from Sandy.

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LaRay

8/26/2011 05:19:29 am

Sandy,

I L-O-V-E that line. That is one of my favorite scenes where Gwen goes through the whole "what if it was our baby?" scenario. I love the titles too, one of my favorites titles is "Let's Fire Me Again, for Old Times' Sake"

Thanks for all your postive feedback. It is much appreciated and sooo much fun to chat with people who have read it.

@Scott - I really don't know who could play Gary, but I'll know him when I see him.

@Janet - I'm glad you could stop by. There are a lot of us out there that really like this book. I agree about people being able to relate to a lot of the scenarios in the book. I certainly could.

LaRay - Hahahahaha. They whole "what if" thing strikes a cord with me because I play it with my husband all the time.

Sandy

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Kathryn

8/26/2011 06:41:27 am

I read this book in hard copy on a beach during my vacation. I too laughed out loud many times. I highly recommend it for anyone.

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Francine

8/26/2011 07:18:06 am

I enjoyed the book, definantly could relate to the comment about sitting with an old friend who was telling a story. I love the way you can relate to the characters. Scott makes the reader feel empathy for both the good and bad guy. Love his style. I also enjoyed Smile Through A Tear. Only problem, was some of those short stories, I wish could have gone on and on.looking forward to the next book.

Thanks so much for stopping by and posting a comment. It's nice to hear from satisfied readers. So few readers have time to leave feedback these days that it sometimes makes you wonder if the best thing people have to say about your book is nothing. That's a writer's paranoia, I know, but it still is nice to hear your work complimented.

This book sounds really funny, I couldn't imagine laughing through an entire book!

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Stephanie

8/27/2011 09:29:53 am

I laughed out loud. A lot. Then I cringed at the thought that Marge Meko or Billie Rae were anything more than fictional characters based in the author's imagination. I hope I never end up working with anyone like either character--Gary Gray lasted longer than I would have. My favorite chapters were "Gramps Tears off a Piece" and "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You; Help This Man Go Pee". Gary and Gwen are a couple that I'd love to hang out with.

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Stephanie

8/27/2011 09:33:11 am

Also, just had to say that I love the book of short stories that Scott wrote: A Smile Through a Tear. Really well written!

@Stephanie - I agree! I LMAO AT "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You; Help This Man Go Pee"

I can't wait to read the short stories. I've heard really great things about A Smile Through A Tear.

@Scott - You are just too humble. BTW - I read the first chapter of Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane to my husband (you know, the man that doesn't like to read) and he loved it too. He couldn't stop laughing. I have a feeling that I'm not going to have access to my Kindle for awhile.

Thanks Sandy. But you are a big part of the reason so many interesting people have stopped by to leave great comments. If this weren't such a great site, we wouldn't be saying hello to so many great folks.

It's interesting that I've been an avid reader my whole life, but at the beginning of the year, I didn't know what an indie author was. I always stuck with the names I knew. I didn't realize what wonderful gems were out there just waiting for me to pick them up and give them a chance.

I hope everyone picks up a copy of your book, Temp: Life in the Stagnant Lane. I know they won't be disappointed.

Sandy,
Thanks so much for inviting me for this feature. It was lots of fun. It was so nice to get to talk to all these great folks. I know this blog is a lot of hard work, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it. Good luck with your future spotlights; I'm sure they will be terrific!

If there is anything I can do to help promote this book, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sandy

Reply

Sandy K. (Sunny) Moon

9/25/2011 10:18:08 am

Scott, it was such a pleasure to see your interview with Sandy. Since we have met on the Kindle Discussion Threads, it made this even more exciting for me.

I also enjoyed our discussion about short stories verses novels and I can see short stories becoming very popular again. I have read some of yours and I truly enjoy your style of writing and the humor in your books. You are a very talented man and II can tell you give it your all when you are writing.

You have truly been an inspiration to me and I look forward to reading more of your wonderful books and short stories. I think that the short stories a wonderful a a quick relaxing read in between some of the longer and more complex novels and there will always be plenty of room for your great stories. I will say that you leave nothing out and they are always very entertaining. Thank you for sharing them with us.

I wish you continued success in your writing career. Not only are you a great and very talented writer, you are a dear gentleman, great husband and father. May your life be filled with God's Richest Blessings and Success.

Warm wishes,

Sunny:)

Sandy, I would like to commend you on the quality of authors you continue to interview on your show. Not only are you a very talented and wonderful author, you have given so much of your love and help to the other great writers. It is obvious that you truly enjoy your own career as a great writer and my best to you.

Thank you for your very kind comments. You have always been a great supporter of authors, and we all owe you our gratitude for that. I know you have given much of your time and energy to help authors to gain an audience, and I hope we have repaid you in some small way be entertaining you with our work.

You carry all of my best wishes with you.

Scott

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Bonnie Will

10/25/2011 09:55:20 am

Hi Scott and Sandy,
I read your blurb about Scott's book, "Temp: A Life in the Stagnant Lane", and enjoyed it very much, Sandy. Scott's book sounds like a riot, and I'm intrigued by his "crap rollers" characters. I've worked temp jobs in the past, and was lucky to have generally good experiences. When I liked working as a temp at an office, I wanted to stay there, so then I found a permament job. I have worked with "crap rollers", though, at some of my office jobs. Good luck with your book, Scott, and thanks for promoting it, Sandy.
Bonnie